Our mode of travelling would have been regarded in England as a curiosity; a friend and myself were mounted on two mules, with huge deep saddles covered with red woolly rugs, large wooden box stirrups, broad girths, and straps attached to the saddles both behind and before; these straps passed round the breasts and hams of the mules to prevent the saddles from slipping as we rode up and down the cuestas, some of which are exceedingly steep. I had two mules laden with my luggage; on the one was placed my mattress and bedding, put into a large leather case, called an almaufres; on the other were two petacas, or square trunks, made of untanned bullocks' hides, and curiously wrought with thongs of the same material. My comrade had two mules also laden in a similar manner; for, when travelling in any part of South America that I visited, it is almost always necessary to take a bed, because no inns or houses of accommodation are found on the roads, or even in the towns or cities. Our peon or muleteer generally followed the mules, while we proceeded on before; but on approaching a village or hamlet, the peon alighted, and tied the mules together, fastening the halter of one to the tail of another, to prevent them from straggling.
About four o'clock in the afternoon we arrived at Ocros, a small village, where the indians were all prepared to go to Cochas the following day, to repair the bridge. This task is annually imposed on them jointly with those of the neighbouring villages, who pass it toll free, while other passengers pay a real or one-eighth of a dollar: the money is kept to provide food for the indians who assemble to assist in the repairs; they employ a week at the work, although it might be finished in a day; but it is rather a week of feasting than of labour. About thirty mules, all laden with cabulleria, as it is called, made from the maguey, were collected in the plasa, or square, and there appeared to be as much bustle as if an army had been removing its camp.
My companion was known to the cura, rector, to whose house he took me, and we were entertained with his best cheer and most cheerful hospitality. The cura complained bitterly of a want of society in his place of exile, destierro, as he called it, and jocosely said, that if the Pope himself were cura of Ocros, he would wish to have a wife to keep him in good humour: excepting, said he, when a traveller passes this way, I hear no news, and know of nothing that occurs in the world which I have left. I often welcome the arrival of a pedlar, to whom I would not even have spoken at Lima, but here he seems to me like something dropt from the clouds, and his words and actions delight me, because they savour of my beloved Lima.
The village or rather hamlet of Ocros is situated on an eminence; the climate is cold, and although but eleven leagues from the coast, it is subject to heavy rains. The inhabitants are for the most part indians, who have some few small flocks of sheep and goats; they labour on the neighbouring farms, and on the whole live miserably. Barley, maize, and milk from their goats are their principal food, and a coarse suit of clothes will generally wear out the life of its owner; the contrast between these indians and those on the coast in regard to their manner of living surprised me not a little:—more ragged and dirty in their appearance, their small huts containing but one room having the fire in the middle of it, without any windows, and the absence of every thing that might contribute to their comfort:—indeed their stock of household goods made a most miserable shew. I inquired into the cause of this penury, and was informed by the cura, that their vicinity to the coast allowed them, if they could purchase a mule, to fetch small quantities of brown sugar, chancaca, and fruit, and to take them to Chiquian and other towns in the interior, to sell, and that they usually spent in eating and drinking the small profits which they derived; they thought, he said, but little of their homes; but left the women to till their plots of ground, to tend their sheep and goats, and to provide for their families. Here the Quichua language begins to be spoken; the indians use no other among themselves, and many of the women cannot speak a word of Spanish.
On the following morning, after a very hearty breakfast, we left Ocros, with an earnest entreaty to call at the house of the cura, should we ever pass through the village again; but the invitation was almost useless, as there was scarcely a hut, rancho, in the village that would have held me and my almaufres. We continued our journey by descending into a deep ravine, where there was no appearance of vegetation, except a few tunas and the giganton rising twelve or fourteen feet high; these, instead of enlightening, gave the scene a more dreary appearance; for these vestiges of vegetation, as they seemed to be, stood on the rocks like way-worn travellers, while their naked trunks craved that moisture from the clouds which they sought for in vain from below. After travelling three dreary leagues, we began to ascend the cuesta of Chiquian; at first we perceived the whole extent of the ravine, quebrada, but the clouds soon began to roll beneath our feet, and intercept the view of the road we had just travelled over. Our ascent was very laborious to the mules, but I alighted twice and led mine; in some places steps were cut in the rock, and hollowed out by the feet of the mules and other cattle that had passed.
When we reached the top I expected to have an extensive view of the country, but I was very much mistaken; towards the coast all seemed to be enveloped in a thick mist, and on every other side the mountains rose one above another, or their proximity blocked up the whole view at once. At a distance we could at times see the summit of some mountains belonging to the principal chain of the Cordillera, covered with snow, and we appeared as if completely isolated—the bed of clouds behind us looked like the sea, limited only by the horizon, and before us the mountains reared their towering heads, as if to oppose our progress.
The top of the mountain was covered with some short grass and moss, with a few horned cattle feeding on it; but after travelling about two leagues we began to descend, and our eyes were once more cheered with the view of some straggling ranchos and patches of cultivated land. At two o'clock we arrived at Chiquian, a comfortable looking town, or village, as it would have been called in England. We found here many white families, and some agreeable people; but the whole village was in an uproar, being divided into parties respecting a law suit with the cura; we however went to his house, where we were received with a most hearty welcome.
The population of Chiquian is composed of white creoles, indians, and mestizos; their principal occupation is farming and grazing; ponchos of wool and cotton are manufactured by the women, some of which are very fine. Near to Chiquian is a silver mine, formerly worked with tolerable advantage, but at present abandoned. The ore contains iron, arsenic, and sulphur, and is always roasted before it is mixed with the mercury; it was calculated, that if a caxon, fifty quintals, of ore produced eight marks of silver, that the proprietor lost nothing; but this calculation is very erroneous, because different ores require different portions of labour, and the loss of mercury is also much greater in some ores than in others; the paco, red oxide of silver, pays much better if it yield six marks each caxon, than the bronce, micaceous pyriferous ores, if they yield ten. Some few small veins of ore had produced forty marks; but this may be looked upon generally as a mere temptation to the miner to carry on the work, often to his own ruin.
According to the mining laws, the discoverer has one hundred and sixty square yards of surface, and must not extend his works beyond the perpendicular limits of his share; he must first present a sample of ore to the Tribunal de Mineria, and take out a document called registro, before he can begin to work; the limits are marked out by the Subdelegado, political governor of the district, and the proprietor takes possession by rolling himself on the ground, digging holes, throwing stones, and shouting three times, possession! Other persons who solicit as hare petition the Tribunal de Mineria, and receive a registro of eighty yards only, half the quantity to which the discoverer is entitled.